Bittersweet

I just finished reading today's paper. I think it started building after listening to Hillary Clinton's speech Tuesday evening, but these two syndicated columnists left me feeling quite unexpectedly bittersweet on a day I fully expected to feel exultation.

Ellen Goodman. (Sorry Ms. Goodman, I cannot agree with your ultimate conclusion. With the ticket as it is set forth now, historic and uplifting as it undeniably is, a potential 16 years before another female presidential candidate on a DNC - let's be real here and say "any" - ticket remains sobering. For the me this is in fact NOT history enough. Sometimes as women we are too ready to settle.)

Leonard Pitts, Jr. (Perhaps I am getting stuck on verbage here. To accuse me of this would likely be appropriate. However, after reading the column by Ellen Goodman it shines out like glaringly harsh neon. "All men are created equal." Where is the female version of Dr. King? Once again, we settle much, much too easily and quietly.)

Maybe it's having a daughter, but something in my core is just achy and deeply sad today.

So says the mother staying home with her young kids. Happy to provide your daily dose of irony. Please proceed directly to the recipe and other domestic pursuits below.

What was in the box Wednesday

Even I'm in total awe this week:

cauliflower
broccoli
bunches of rosemary, basil and thyme
carrots
potatoes
beets
an english cucumber
lettuce
more tomatoes than I can count
garlic, shallots and onions
rainbow chard
italian red peppers
an eggplant
cabbage
string beans
a spaghetti squash
3 leeks

You should have seen me last night, sitting on the kitchen floor with all of this spread out around me. It was a bit like opening the clown car of CSA boxes. By the end I was truly chortling with anticipatory glee.

Plans include: baba ghanouj, leek/potato soup, potato salad with shallots and herbs, white bean salad with rosemary and veg, roasted beets with blue cheese, and plates and plates of veggie pastas and stir fries.

Here's my quick and dirty, off the cuff pasta recipe:

What you need on hand: olive oil, tomatoes, garlic, onions, some sort of sautee-able greens, butter, whole wheat pasta

Nice but not necessary additions: red pepper flakes, red wine vinegar or lemon juice, various other veggies (like peppers, eggplant, squash), parmesan cheese, herbs

The quick and dirty part: While you're cooking the pasta, heat some olive oil in a large sautee pan. Add chopped onions and garlic. (how much is a matter of taste. if you like things spicy, toss in some red pepper flakes now too) Stir frequently to avoid burning the garlic while you roughly chop the tomatoes (you want a good amount, 8-10 plum or 5 beefsteak type) and toss them in too. Let this simmer happily away. (somewhere in here you would add the additional veg, depending on how long it takes to cook) Add salt to taste. When the pasta is almost done, stir in several tablespoons of butter. This gives you a luscious silky sauce. (this is where you would add the acid if you choose, it adds another layer of flavor) Roughly chop your greens and toss them in too. (including any appropraite herbs you have to hand) Sautee until tender (if you're using something like spinachor arugula, just toss it in the warm sauce, something like chard or beet greens needs some time to cook). Drain the pasta, toss it in the pan and you're read to go.

This easily morphs into an asian noodle stir fry. Sub fresh chopped ginger root for the onion. Think about rice wine vinegar or a dash of soy. A splash of toasted sesame oil. Peapods. Mushrooms. Soba noodles. Garlic chile paste. Mmmmmmm.

Recent Acquisitions

Installation #1 in the "Things I bought at the Michigan Fiber Festival" series. We start with yarn. Both first time purchases for me...

Briar Rose Fibers. Words do not serve. At All. From the top = 2 hanks of Sea Pearl, 3 of alpaca, 1 huge hank of Grandma's Blessing. All on sale. This is what you get for being there before everyone else. :)

Yes, it is in fact Socks that Rock. All mill ends, which translates into MORE FOR ME! I ran the spectrum. A couple of lightweight, a silky and a heavyweight. We shall see what we see when I knit it...or perhaps I will be perverse and make a crochet wonder.

Stay tuned for the fiber version...batteries need charging.

Now sit firmly down.

I have finished something. Some somethings that have been sitting for almost a year now.

Basic socks with a Strong Heel. Love the strong heel. Quick as quick can be and no stitch picking up. You knit in increases as you do the heel flap...everything is one continuous piece. The pattern I used is here.

Next UFO up...the Family Adventure socks. Oh yeah, and in my finishing delirium, I cast on for a Tomten for #3. *blushes*

More from Fair-y Land

Lest you think the fair was all about bacon, here's a bit of the artsy side:

Crop art. Look at the detail. All of this is made with seeds, legumes, other natural yada. Yes even this bike:


Do they do this anywhere else? Busts carved out of ginormous blocks of butter. In an equally ginormous walk-in, sit-in, carve-in rotating freezer. This is Princess Kay of the Milky Way during her sitting. Yes, she has a tiara. And a big satin sash.


Big fat pickle:
...and last but certainly not least: big fat fat in the guise of deep fried cheese curds. I wait all year for these lovelies.

Oh how I love my state.

First day of the Minnesota State Fair. Best new food booth IMO:


Yes, it was truly both big and fat and on a stick:

(bonus points if you can tell which 2 are mine...)

They also get props for the best signage:



(and yes, that is in fact a teeny tiny picture of Kevin.)

...and shirts:



(they need to sell these...)

Sold by this fine bacon lady and her family. Nothing like supporting the local economy.

Yep, it's a camel.

In a trailer. On I94 outside of Kenosha. With 2 humps. Yes, I was hanging out of the window.

What I did in Michigan

There were classes. There was people meeting. There was fiber purchasing. There was much booth tweaking and sitting. Thankfully there was also much selling.

The March Hare fiber display.

And her purty sock yarn too...before the scrum that occurred when the buses arrived from Chicago. Oh how they luved Meg's yarn!

I miss my dog

We saw a pair of bulldogs while picking up meds at the vet today and I'm weepy all over again. I miss Willy...that's him sitting up. Emma needs a doggie friend. The kids are good with her, but she needs a dog to play with and take care of. Drat bulldogs for being so darn expensive. Drat kids for being so darn expensive. The two seem to be mutually exclusive at the mo'. Drat.

What makes me smile today

My mug.

Made by my friend. Gifted to me for Roadie services rendered. It was a great trip. More to come.

On the Road

At the in-laws in Milwaukee. Quick UFO update for y'all. Thanks to tons of late night Olympics watching (I do not sleep well when the hub is not with me), the Depths of Montego Bay scarf is finished, 40 braided fringies and all. Have broken out the languishing Strong Heel socks and #2 is happily cast on. Had forgotten how nice this Regia bamboo was. The road trip to Michigan with Jennie the Potter starts tonight. Bracelet class tomorrow afternoon. Soap classes Thursday. Selling stuff and trying to resist mass consumption myself Friday, Saturday, Sunday.

Haitus warning

Dawn shall be out of communication with the web-osphere until 8/18. There shall be driving to Milwaukee. There shall be hanging with the kids at the in-laws. There shall be some kids going to Chicago with my sister while others stay with the inlaws while I go play with jenniethepotter in Michigan. So yes there shall be more driving. And more driving. And more driving. But there shall also be soap making. Sterling bracelet weaving. Hanging out with cool pottery and it's cooler potter. Hopefully a gala of March Hare fiber selling.

A few pictures to catch you up:


I finally washed all of my handspun. Luv it all.

This one is a mega 5 ounces.
I made this a bit ago. Great hair scarf in Summer Tweed.
Am taking UFOs with me. The Montego Bay scarf is very close. (really not a UFO, but it doesn't seem right to stop working on it to pick up something that has been sitting. first things first eh? why do i feel differently about this than i do abandoning a WIP for a bright shiny new project?) Socks need to be finished. Hopefully there shall be much to show you when I come home. have fun and play nice while I'm gone, ya hear?

Flash Back

Sigh. There are tantrums today. I had forgotten how loud being 2 1/2 is. So much drama. Can't I go back here please?


Crocheting on the boat while the small people are not trying to kill each other because they are happily entertained by nature?

With the awesome rocks? They're so quiet.

Evening cocktail cruise?

Nope? Fardles. I want a lake.

What's in the box Wednesday!

Quick reveal. Kids going nutso today.

Tomatoes!!!!!
okra
basil
peppers of green and red
cucumbers of various persuasions
various baby squash
beans
eggplants
red cabbage
salad greens
chard

am thinking veggie risotto for dinner. side salad. or maybe we'll make a bacon run and do up the first tomato of the season in style....mmmmmmm, bacon.

Check it out!

So just what have I been doing with all of these boxes and boxes of fiber and yarn?

This.

For my friend Meg who is awesome.

What was in the Box Wednesday?

Apparently inquiring minds want to know. I love that you love my CSA.

english cucumbers
eggplant
carrots, beets, young potatoes
green and purple string beans
baby beet greens
summer crisp lettuce
red cabbage
huge bunches of basil and parsley
smaller bunches of thyme and oregano
celery
various summer squashes
probably something else I am forgetting because we ate it immediately...

On other topics, I made these to teach a friend and the small people to spin. They are remarkably nice to use. I am most pleasantly surprised.


Next I shall try stone whorls.

Got another secret package. Spent the morning playing around photog-ing. Fun, fun, fun!